Salesforce SOSL basics

Salesforce Object Search Language (SOSL) is a Salesforce search language that is used to perform text searches in records. Use SOSL to search fields across multiple standard and custom object records in Salesforce. SOSL is similar to Apache Lucene.

Adding SOSL queries to Apex is simple—you can embed SOSL queries directly in your Apex code. When SOSL is embedded in Apex, it is referred to as inline SOSL.

This is an example of a SOSL query that searches for accounts and contacts that have any fields with the word 'SFDC'.

List<List<SObject>> searchList = [FIND 'SFDC' IN ALL FIELDS
                                      RETURNING Account(Name), Contact(FirstName,LastName)];

Differences and Similarities Between SOQL and SOSL

Like SOQL, SOSL allows you to search your organization’s records for specific information. Unlike SOQL, which can only query one standard or custom object at a time, a single SOSL query can search all objects.

Another difference is that SOSL matches fields based on a word match while SOQL performs an exact match by default (when not using wildcards). For example, searching for 'Digital' in SOSL returns records whose field values are 'Digital' or 'The Digital Company', but SOQL returns only records with field values of 'Digital'.

SOQL and SOSL are two separate languages with different syntax. Each language has a distinct use case:

• Use SOQL to retrieve records for a single object.
• Use SOSL to search fields across multiple objects. SOSL queries can search most text fields on an object.

The search query in the Query Editor and the API must be enclosed within curly brackets ({Wingo}). In contrast, in Apex the search query is enclosed within single quotes ('Wingo').

FIND {Wingo} IN ALL FIELDS RETURNING Account(Name), Contact(FirstName,LastName,Department)